2007 has produced another first for the Upper Arlington Mens Lacrosse program. The Bears will send two of their graduated seniors, Scott Lathrop and Max Schmidt, to the prestigious Under-19 U.S. Team tryouts July 12-15th in Baltimore.

Lathrop and Schmidt are among 120 players who will compete for a spot on the U.S. team that will participate in the 2008 International Lacrosse Federation U-19 World Championship from July 3-12, 2008, in British Columbia, Canada. The 120 players, representing 22 states, were selected from a pool of 235 players that were nominated by area chairmen of the US Lacrosse Men's Division Coaches Council High School Committee and collegiate coaches.

The tryouts will be held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A roster of 23 players will be selected.

"The chance to get on the world team only comes along every four years," said Schmidt. "This is a great honor just to tryout, to know you're among the top 120 players in the nation." The 6-foot-3, 217-pound defenseman was named Player of the Year by the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association and will play for Maryland next season.

"These are the best of the best and it's exciting to see how I match up with some of these guys because I will be playing against most of them in college," added Schmidt. "This will be a real jump in competition."

The All-American Golden Bear has already had a busy summer, participating in the Under Armor All-American game June 16th at Loyola College which featured the top 40 high school players in the country and was televised nationally by ESPNU.

Lathrop has been a productive midfielder for three seasons at UA and was chosen All-American, All-Midwest and All-State after scoring 32 goals as a senior and finishing with 41 points.

"This is really going to be fun to play where everyone is just great," said Lathrop. "This camp will be like jumping right into college lacrosse." Lathrop has signed with Ohio State. The Buckeyes are one of several schools with multiple signees who will be attending the tryout.

Ted Wolford coached both players at UA. "This is a great opportunity to represent the United States. The competition is very, very strong," said Wolford. "This will really prepare both of them for what comes next.
This is a great stepping stone. I'm very happy for these guys and wish them well. It's a matter of hang loose and do the best you can."

The U.S. has never lost a game in ILF U-19 world championship competition, capturing championships in 1988 (Adelaide, Australia), 1992 Long Island, N.Y.), 1996 (Tokyo, Japan), 1999 (Adelaide, Australia) and 2003 (Towson, Md.).

Serving as the head coach for the 2008 U.S. U-19 team is Chuck Apel of Bridgewater-Raritan (N.J.) High School. His assistants are Tim Flynn (Mountain Lakes NJ), Kevin Giblin (Georgetown Prep DC) and John Nostrant (Haverford School PA). Tom Flatley of Floral Park, N.Y., is the team's general manager.

The Upper Arlington Mens Lacrosse team left no doubt in winning their fourth straight Ohio High School Lacrosse Association title Saturday afternoon, dominating unbeaten and top-ranked Hudson, 14-2 behind the scoring of Offensive MVP Grant Devilbiss, who netted three goals, and the relentless defensive pressure of the Golden Bear back end led by the state's Player of the Year Max Schmidt and Defensive MVP Judson Hall who pitched a shutout against the Explorers before giving way after three quarters.

The Gold and Black put the finishing touches on a 20-1 season and climbed to 13th nationally in the Laxpower rankings with the win, their 10th state title in 16 years under Head Coach Ted Wolford who will be inducted into the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame Friday June 8th at the Fawcett Center at Ohio State.

"We really focused and covered a lot of things over the last few days," said Wolford. "We decided as the number two team there was no pressure on us. We just decided to get after it with pressure everywhere."

The Bears scored five quick goals en route to a 9-0 lead at halftime. Wolford credited assistant coach Bryan England for his work with the Golden Bear faceoff specialists as an important variable down the stretch. "We were less than 30 percent faceoffs at the Midwest tournament," said Wolford, "but we were back over 50 percent for the state tournament."

UA was an inexperienced offensive team to start the year but its confidence never wavered. "With these kids it wasn't how are we going to do this but we are going to do this," according to Wolford. "This title belongs to the seniors and though it does put pressure on the next group, it's a good kind of pressure."

The Bears spread the offense around on Saturday. Alex Drake had a pair of goals and the following players had one goal apiece; Scott Lathrop, Kyle Smith, Clark Tanner, Eric Hanover, Nolan Kleinhenz, Adam Donahue, Matt Ghidotti, Keith Olson and Cal Case. Backing up Hall in goal were Alex Benedick, Kyle Frost and Teddy Dugger.

The Bears claimed a number of individual honors during their championship run.

Scholastic All-Americans:
Max Schmidt, Defenseman
Judson Hall, Goalie
Scott Lathrop, Middie

Division One Awards: Position Player of Year
Defenseman, Max Schmidt
Goalie, Judson Hall
LSM, Dan Crawford

State's Player of the Year:
Max Schmidt

OHSLA Tournament MVP:
Offense, Grant DeVilbiss
Defense, Judson Hall

Remember - summer is not just about camp lacrosse but the chance to get on the turf at Marv Moorehead Stadium and play ball at the best lacrosse facility in the area.

"We just want our kids to play as much as they can," said UA Head Coach Ted Wolford. "There are some great opportunities to play here in town against a wide variety of talents."

The schedule runs from mid-June to late-July with 12 dates to play against current and former Golden Bears, some playing on the college level. The best pick-up games you'll find.

Long-time UA Mens Head Lacrosse Coach Ted Wolford joined the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame Friday, June 8th in a ceremony at the Fawcett Center at Ohio State.

Wolford was joined in the class by former UA goalie Shawn Trell, class of 1985, who went on to become a three-time All-American at Hobart College and Toby Boucher, an All-American attackman at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Wolford has won 10 state titles in 16 years as the Golden Bears Head Coach and sent over 100 players to
the collegiate level and he reflected on all who helped him achieve that success. "This is about everyone who has ever played here, every fan who has ever cheered for us, every captains parent and assistant coach who has worked for me."

Wolford was grateful that the recognition might reflect on his family who has been heavily involved in growing the game of lacrosse in central Ohio and beyond. "It's a huge honor but I thought I'm too young, I'm still coaching. The more I thought about it I realized this would be a recognition of my own family and their contribution to the UA lax family."

Wolford's three brothers; Dan, John and Bill all played for Upper Arlington. Bill was the head coach at UA before building a solid program at Worthington Kilbourne High School. Bill was also chosen the Man of the Year by the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association in 2007 for his contributions to the game. Ted's sisters Ann and Kate were statiticians for the team while Jane and Sue were among its biggest suppporters. Norm and Alice are Ted's parents and his Dad has been a driving force to promote media coverage of the game.
  

The Upper Arlington Mens Lacrosse team made its first move toward a 5th straight state title by naming its captains for the 2008 season at the team's annual banquet Thursday night.

The quartet includes goalie Alex Benedick, attackman Adam Donahue, defenseman Grant Oliver and middie Keith Olson.